While more than 100 residents currently live in the 6.6-acre Guardian Angel Homes Liberty Lake retirement complex, its facilities are designed to feel small and homelike, says Joan Estudillo, administrator of the Liberty Lake campus.

The care facilities, which opened in 2003 at 23102 E. Mission, are configured in five multiunit structures she calls houses, each of which has its own name, such as Tudor, Bungalow, and Craftsman.

The Liberty Lake campus also has four two-unit, independent-living cottages, which were built in 2012, and Guardian Angel plans to build more duplex cottages there this year, Estudillo says.

The largest “house,” named The Colonial, is a two-story, 40,000-square-foot assisted-living facility with 31 living units, Estudillo says.

The other four houses are memory-care facilities, each with 15 residents.

Estudillo claims many residents chose Guardian Angel Homes because they feel they would be overwhelmed by larger retirement homes that often have more than 100 residents in a building.

“The Colonial, with 31 people, is a smaller, more homelike environment,” she says. “People are able to settle in quicker.”

The assisted-living facility has a computer library, a billiards room, and other activity rooms.

The Colonial also is connected to a 4,300-square-foot community center, which includes an event venue equipped with a commercial kitchen.

“It’s a great place to have parties and bigger gatherings,” Estudillo says. “People from all of the houses can get together here.”

The next event planned there is a Valentine’s Day sock hop with a live band.

“Residents can invite their families,” she says. “We usually have to have a cutoff because of the occupancy. The occupancy limit in the community center is 148 people.”

Residents can use the community center without charge for their own events, including family reunions, weddings, and memorial services, she says, adding, “We’ve done all of that.”

The business offices, including Estudillo’s office, also are in the community center.

“The business part is here, so the houses feel more like home,” Estudillo says.

Having a number of smaller houses is more expensive to staff and maintain than would be a larger, single-structure facility that could accommodate a similar resident population, Estudillo asserts, adding that Guardian Angel’s cost to residents is in the average range among Spokane-area retirement communities.

The Liberty Lake facility has 72 employees. A nurse is on staff seven days a week, and caregivers are present around the clock.

Assisted-living apartments are configured with studio or one-bedroom floor plans, and basic monthly rents range from $3,050 to $3,750, plus assisted-living fees that vary by level of care.

She describes the memory care units as small to deluxe studios, and basic monthly rents range from $2,625 to $3,425, plus care fees.

Each memory-care house has an upper floor with two independent-living apartment units. Those apartments range from an 800-square-foot, one-bedroom unit that rents for $1,050 a month, to a 1,400-square-foot, three-bedroom unit that rents for $1,600. Estudillo says the independent apartments often are rented by seniors with spouses or relatives in memory care.

The eight independent-living cottage units each have 1,200 square feet of living space with two bedrooms and an attached garage. They rent for $2,200 a month.

Two assisted-living units were vacant as of early February, although Estudillo says the campus usually is occupied fully and often has a waiting list. “I’d say that about 96 percent of the time, we’re completely full,” she says.

Basic rent for assisted-living and memory-care residents includes three daily meals, housekeeping, cable TV, and all utilities except for phone.

Guardian Angel offers home-style cooking with a variety of choices on the menu.

“A nutritionist does the menu,” Estudillo says. “We have homemade soups and fresh bread every day. It’s very much what folks like when they are that age.”

A typical Sunday dinner menu, for example, includes cream of tomato soup, grilled cheese sandwich, chicken rice casserole, marinated cucumbers, milk, coffee, and a sundae dessert.

Guardian Angel also provides scheduled transportation and social and recreational activities.

The activity calendar includes bingo, baking, Wii bowling, movie matinees, exercises, sing-alongs, and ice cream socials.

Estudillo says the independent cottage units have remained fully occupied since they opened.

Tyson Frantz, a Post Falls-based part owner of Guardian Angel Homes, says the campus has room for eight more duplex cottages, and the retirement complex plans to build two or three of them this year.

“We’ll probably target starting those in May to be complete in late summer,” Frantz says.

Each unit will have 1,200 square feet of living space, with two bedrooms and two full bathrooms.

Frantz says the duplex units will feature some upgraded finishes, including stone countertops, full-sized showers and tubs, roll-in exterior door thresholds, and individual garages.

The planned independent-living cottages will rent for $2,500 a month, and will include full maintenance services, utilities, some scheduled transportation and access to activities, programming, and community center events. 

Estudillo says the cottage project will include “an adult playground” outdoor functional fitness equipment designed to help seniors maintain their abilities to perform daily tasks.

ML Architect & Associates Inc., of Post Falls, is designing the cottages. Frantz says Guardian Angel Homes hasn’t selected a contractor yet.

Estudillo says most independent-living residents, and some assisted-living residents still enjoy driving.

Some assisted-living residents only require low levels of assistance, she says.

“They might just need meals and medication assistance,” she says.

With its continuum of care, Guardian Angel Homes can step up levels of care as a resident’s needs for assistance increases, Estudillo says.

While Guardian Angel doesn’t provided skilled nursing services, it can summon hospice services in certain end-of-life situations. “We bring in hospice, and residents can remain here to the end of life,” Estudillo says. “That way, they can remain around people they know.”

Residents come from all over the country, although Estudillo says most first heard of Guardian Angel through word-of-mouth recommendations.

“Liberty Lake has grown so much, people bring mom and dad from everywhere,” she says.

Estudillo has been administrator at the Liberty Lake campus for 12 years, and she has been in the senior care business for 27 years. 

She says close relationships with her grandparents influenced her interest in senior care.

“My best friend was 87 when I was 13,” she says.

 “They are the greatest people, and they have so much to share,” Estudillo says. “I can’t imagine doing anything else.”

Guardian Angel Homes Liberty Lake is affiliated with other Guardian Angel Homes operations in Richland, Wash.; Post Falls and Lewiston, Idaho; and Hermiston, Ore.

The ownership group includes the Frantz family and Hayden businessman John Geddes.